Abstract: In this article we take into consideration the works of Igor Strawinsky The Rake’s Progress and the links between the 18th century printings of the same name by William Hogart. Differences are also highlighted between the pictorial Hogart’s descriptions and the writing of the libretto given by the composer to W. H. Auden and C. Kallman. Among the characters added in the printings few are particularly standing out: Nick Shadow (Mephistopheles) and Baba the Turk, the woman with the long beard, character that bears farcical and caricatural aspects and also a vein of empathy with Anne, the protagonist, faithfully in love with the libertine Tom Rakewell. The moments which are more in connection with the ironic and grotesque aspects are: the scene of the Mother Goose’s house of pleasure, the appearance of Baba the Turk (which became the libertine’s wife under suggestion of Shadow and then fights violently with her husband) and the auction of the libertine’s properties after his bankruptcy.

Ha insegnato pianoforte e teoria musicale presso l’Istituto per l’Educazione Musicale Vivaldi del quale è stata direttrice da 1987 al 2018. Giornalista pubblicista e critico musicale, ha scritto per la rivista di didattica musicale “beQuadro”, ha collaborato con il Centro di Ricerca e Sperimentazione per la Didattica Musicale di Fiesole (Firenze) ed è stata membro del direttivo e della commissione didattica dell’AIdSM (Associazione Italiana Scuole di Musica) e socio del Festival di Musica Contemporanea.